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Squanto's Inheritance
by Christopher Jon Batis

As Thanksgiving approaches, we Americans look forward to basically four days of turkey, football, family, friends, and the stampede-like rush that fills the malls with holiday shoppers driven by an endless barrage of consumer ads repleeting the airwaves, cable lines, and web pop-ups, promising great bargains for the Christmas holiday season.

We do all this amid the end of the fourth year in Iraq, nooses appearing indiscriminately fueling racial tension, beating drums of preemptive strikes against Iran, a President who thinks two hundred billion dollars are better spent on a war rather than ten on children's health care, a barrel of crude approaching one hundred dollars each, and the impending appointment of a new Attorney General who doesn't think water boarding is torture, all neatly wrapped up in an enveloping, concentric ball of confusion about the future of our nation.

It is not my intent to politicize the celebration of the second most wonderful, heart warming holiday of the year, however, the inescapability of the holiday's historical roots cannot be helped if one is to avoid any hypocracy in its celebration.

You see, unfortunately, the history of Thanksgiving in America is rooted in the slavery and kidnaping of an obscure Native American personage named Squanto. Squanto was the liason between the so called pilgrims and the indigenous peoples of this land. After his abduction by Captain Thomas Hunt along the New England shore, he was sold into slavery to the King of Spain. He eventually escaped to England where he was captured again and returned here in 1619 as a pilot for another English sea captain. Upon returning to New England, after this horrifying ordeal, he escaped once more only to find that his people had died of a plague brought to this land by these sea faring English merchant slave traders. Two years later, these same English traders, who we now call pilgrims, were starving. Squanto, in spite of his treatment, helped the pilgrims survive by teaching them to fish and plant corn. He developed a friendship with the Massachussetts settlers and acted as interpreter at the Treaty of Plymouth in 1621 between the Native American Chief Massasoit and Governor William Bradford. He later became ill and died.

As we prepare to celebrate Thanksgiving this year, it would do us all well to remember the lessons of humility, tolerance, and compassion left for us by this mostly forgotten Native American hero. If not for his civility, the pilgrims, our ancestors, would not have survived and leave us this inheritance we call America.

So, when you sit down in front the plasma TV, enjoying your turkey, hopefully free of Aviary flu, eating your greens, hopefully free of the deadly ecoli bacteria, pop open that brew to watch your favorite grown men throw and catch an oblong ball for twenty five million dollars a year, and start wrapping those gifts, some of which will end up in the hands of someone unintended, remember that there are others dying for this privilege; remember that there but for the grace of God you can go to the mall in your car, fueled by overpriced oil, contributing to global warming, to buy those trivial gifts for unappreciative recipients, and eat to your heart's content while taking your lives into your own hands, and pray that your kids don't get sick if you are uninsured.

Realize the true spirit of Thanksgiving and make it last more than just those four days. Focus not on the trivial. Know your neighbors. Offer them a hand in times of need. Shy not away from acts of kindness. Teach not your children to condemn war, but to embrace peace. Uplift the weary. Be tolerant, humble, compassionate, and civil. Comfort those who make sacrifices for our benefit. Show the rest of the world that we truly have something to be thankful for. Ourselves. Our character. Our good nature. Our sense of dignity in times of despair. Our generosity. Our tolerance for that which seems opposite our own experience. Our willingness to give and our restraint to hoard. Let us be grateful and strive for all these things. Let us not forget the lessons of the past and be open to what we can learn today.

"Thanksgiving did have its origins in Christendom – specifically, the Pilgrims’ gratitude for having survived the harsh winter of 1622-23." Yes. However, the Pilgrims were the people here, the origins of our now diverse country, and they happened to be Christian. Does that mean that the holiday is Christian, not American? I am not a Christian, but I am American. Do I not meet the qualifications? I've celebrated Thanksgiving every year of my life. The origins of Thanksgiving are religious, but I would argue that they are not specifically Christian, they just happened to be Christian. Who would you say thanks to, if not to God? But which God, or how you worship Him is irrelevant to the day, so long as you are grateful.

For people of the Abrahamic faiths, this is an opportunity to pray together and give thanks to the one true God. All three believe in him.
Not likely though, eh?

The native amerian's were not christian and they started thanksgiving. In fact most christains referred to the native american's as uncivilized and savages. I do not think the roots of a christian celebration lie in a native american response to a good harvest for the native amreican's but not so good for the first american's. Perhaps a lesson in history may be in order. I think it is a holiday to give thanks for being alive one more year. Nothng to do with Christians or Jews. Just people. If Jewish people choose not to celebrate because it is not in their bible, that is fine for them, but Thanksgiving has nothing to do with Christians. I am a Buddhist; and have been for over forty years now; and I have no problems with Thanksgiving. In fact an Apache Indian friend of mine gave me a turkey in the spirit of the first thanksgiving a few years ago. No mention of God or Christ. No church or ceremony, just people saying thank-you.

In the U.S., conservative Christians think EVERYTHING belongs to them. Decorated trees and mistletoe at the winter solstice? Christian. Painted eggs and bunnies in the spring? Christian. Now Thanksgiving. I don't know why they've left Halloween alone - they could say we're carving Jesus faces in our pumpkins.

Thanksgiving is not a Christian Holiday. It's an American version of a harvest festival. Just because the early American immigrants who first celebrated Thanksgiving happened to be Christians doesn't make it a Christian holiday. Anyone can eat a big meal with their families and be thankful for all they have. Let's not give a false impression to our new immigrants that there is something exclusively Christian or even religous about Thanksgiving. They should be able to enjoy the feast without feeling like their betraying their own religion or culture.

Thanksgiving Day has always been a blessing growing up in the United States. I was born and raised in America (4th generation) and it is the one holiday that brings a family together to celebrate thier unity and love. Christmas has become a non religious experience as well, it is all about buying stuff and how well the retail stores did this year versus last year, and not the celebration of Christ. Thanksgiving is uniquely special in that we all can celebrate our lives, our food and the companionship of living in this incredibly great country.

It is a day centered on family and food.

How could this not be a Jewish holiday?

David G, isn't this blog an attempt to make every aspect of our lives a religious event? I agree with your hope and hope likewise but there are forces up and about with other ideas. And they are well heeled with lots of money they don't have to account for, tax free, tax deductible and operate from facilities that are tax exempt.

Clearly, the tax laws establish religion contrary to the first amendment and the politicians let them get away with it because they vote as a block. Only religions own real estate. It's a mathematical certainty that religion will own all real estate in time, a long time but for sure nevertheless. The rents we pay for our homes are called real property taxes. Don't pay and get evicted. Religious operators own real estate tax exempt. Only God can evict them.

Get religion out of Thanksgiving before it takes it over is what I say. God is a different story altogether. Thank God and pray to God for religion to go away.

Is God trying to tell us something? Have a look at http://www.hoax-buster.org Is that the work of God? Does saying the Bible is God's word insult God?

Thanksgiving certainly should not be a time to quiz, test, or discuss one's perspective of religion or understanding of God(s). Experience shows that most family gatherings will end up in less than a peaceful gathering, regardless of the simlarities of the core religous beliefs of those gathered.

As a believer, I thank the God for all Creation, especially for my family, the whole human family, this living world we inhabit, and the universe. I'm personally interested in science and enjoy immensely new findings as scientists discover more and more how God did it - even as science must presume God is unnecessary!

If you all research the true origin of the first Thanksgiving, you will find is actually took place in Texas and was connected to a religious observance, well before Plymouth, MA

Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday because of the way Americans take it, as a non-religious and all inclusive. We all get stuffed on turkey (well, maybe not the vegetarians), hang out with family and friends, and forget all our differences (religious, political or otherwise) and are thankful for what we have. I hope no contemporary politicians ever try to make Thanksgiving something it is not: overly religious.

Thanks!

Were the Christians also told to bake a Turkey, and serve it with stuffing and mashed potatoes?

I too came to America at a young age and fell in love with Thanksgiving because it has nothing to do with religion and everything to do with giving thanks for the bounty that America provides. Christmas and Easter was always tough especially after returning to school and we did not have new toys, etc. but Thanksgiving was great because we all had Turkey and silly stories to share.

Christians are not the only ones who are thankful for the opportunities that America provides, we all are, jews, muslims,christians and the rest of the folks living here, and anyone who is not grateful can always go back to where they came from.

My family and I arrived here from the Philippines almost 13 years ago. Since then, I've had tremendous opportunities to delve into the history of the United States of America, expanding my analytical skills in the process. I find the American spirit of compassion -- demonstrated most recently during the responses to the Great Tsunami of 2004 as well as Hurricane Katrina and the evacuations from Lebanon despite constant rocket attacks by Hezbollah -- especially striking; this year, I am grateful for the Judeo-Protestant foundations of American civil religion. I wonder if any other countries in the world have as unique a blend of religion and civil society as the United States has had from 1620 to the present day. That thought aside, I am eternally thankful for the moral clarity that Judeo-Protestantism brings into our lives in order to define the identity of what is probably the greatest global superpower to have ever existed.

Thanksgiving is an opportunity to give praise to Jesus Christ for what He has done in my life.
I look at where I was last year on Thanksgiving day to where I am now on this Thanksgiving and give Jesus all the praise, honor, and glory. I know that I could not have made the year without the Lord in my life.
Happy Thanksgiving.
Thank you Jesus Christ of Nazareth.

I just wanted to inform Mr.Jonathan Sarna that Thanksgiving is not stated in any Holy Scriptures used by Christians either. You may not know this, but the Jewish Holy Writ is our Old Testament and every single book in our complete Bible except for one was written by a Jew. So, yes, Thanksgiving is completely extra for Christians. There is no holy mandate from above saying that we must celebrate Thanksgiving. Christians celebrate Thanksgiving, but it is not a Christian holiday in the same sense that you are speaking of the Jewish holidays which are recorded in the writings of Moses.

I was a youth when I came to America, and one of the first things I did was try to read up on the American culture how they operate, celebrate and everything that went along with this new country I came to. My reason for doing this was because of that quote "when in Rome do as the Romans do" I wish people coming to this country from other place adapt the same mentality. We come here see what's going on and we either adapt or remember we have an option. Thanksgiving is an American tradition we are here use it as the Americans do just for that one Thursday each year in November and give thanks in whatever way or to whomever for whatever, and after that day be who you are that is christion,jew,muslim,hindu or whatever you are. If you don't feel it is what you are used to or what does not represent you, then just don't. What difference does it make. Just use the day and give thanks,gracias,merci, whew!! Life is too short people live it.

I always thought of Thanksgiving as more of a cultural thing- an American tradition - instead of a religious practice. However as a Christian, we make Thanksgiving an opportunity to reflect on our blessings and give thanks to God our supreme provider. I think Thanksgiving day can be observed by any faith or religion in their own special way.

I agree with the professor that Thanks Giving is and should be a national holiday for all Americans regardless of religous affliation and among others should also include Muslims who number between 8-10 million in the USA; all Americans have something to be thankful for.

Two hundred years ago the mayor of Savannah invited Jews to join in celebrating Thanksgiving. The holiday was never meant only for Christians, despite the tendency of Christians to refer to Christian themes.

The way Thanksgiving is celebrated today -- with the football games just a stone's throw away on the television -- is is neither Christian, nor non-sectarian, nor anything other than an opportunity to overeat and become another dumb sports fan.

Our giving of thanks came with us from our European roots as a harvest festival. The first recognized Thanksgiving in the “new world” was held in the Virginia Colony on December 4, 1619 near the site of Berkeley Plantation, where celebrations are still held each year in November.
In 1621 the Pilgrims, at Plymouth, set a day to celebrate a harvest festival.
The Pilgrims did not hold a true Thanksgiving until 1623, after a drought, numerous prayers for rain, and followed by a rain shower resulting in crops to be harvested. Irregular Thanksgivings continued after favorable events.
Except in 1777, throughout the American Revolutionary War the Continental Congress appointed one or more thanksgiving days each year recommending to the executives of the various states the observance of these days in their states.
George Washington, leader of the revolutionary forces in the American Revolutionary War, proclaimed a Thanksgiving in December 1777 as a victory celebration honoring the defeat of the British at Saratoga. The Continental Congress proclaimed annual December Thanksgivings from 1777 to 1783, except in 1782.
George Washington again proclaimed Thanksgivings, as President, in 1789 and 1795. President John Adams declared Thanksgivings in 1798 and 1799. President Madison, in response to resolutions of Congress, set apart a day for thanksgiving at the close of the War of 1812. Madison declared the holiday twice in 1815; however, none of these were celebrated in autumn.
In the middle of the American Civil War, President Abraham Lincoln proclaimed a national Thanksgiving Day, to be celebrated on the final Thursday in November 1863. Since 1863, Thanksgiving has been observed annually in the United States.
F.D. Roosevelt to present
With the country in the midst of The Great Depression, in 1939, President Franklin D. Roosevelt declared that Thanksgiving would be the next-to-last Thursday of November, rather than the last, to give merchants a longer period to sell goods before Christmas.
In 1941, the U.S. Congress split the difference and established that the Thanksgiving would occur annually on the fourth Thursday of November, which was sometimes the last Thursday and sometimes the next to last. On November 26 that year, President Roosevelt signed this bill into U.S. law.

Personally, I have always felt that Thanksgiving was the one American holiday that we could all celebrate equally. My siblings and I were raised in the only Jewish family in a small New England town, where Christmas and Easter were celebrated in the schools (that has changed now). We always felt uncomfortable with public holidays, except for the 4th Thursday in November. Thanksgiving transcends social and religious boundaries. The blessing that thanks God for allowing us all to be together in celebration seems especially appropriate.

B'shalom,
-Risa

I've never thought of Thanksgiving as a Christian holiday, even in its roots, because it has always been presented as a holiday of gratitude. That the pilgrims were Christian seems nearly irrelevant next to the fact that they were among the early European settlers of this land.

As someone who was raised in the Jewish faith, I have frequently described Thanksgiving as the North American version of Passover; we give thanks for having arrived, and survived, in this new land. It is certainly not a Christian version of the Passover story.